Now if only they served beer out the window that this is over. If memory serves this was an Auntie Annes last year? I would love it if you could get some good German Bier and some pretzels and bier cheese there!

While I would be surprised if a madhouse made an appearance at Kings Island, Vekoma seems to be making quite a come back. They were recently purchased by S&S and have some pretty exciting looking new coaster projects going on in Europe and Asia as well as new trains. It looks like they are a very different company now than they were when Invertigo, Firehawk and Flying Ace Aerial Chase were installed.
Lech in Poland looks pretty awesome don't you think?

This has me really excited! I-street is the first impression a guest has when walking through the gates. I already thought it looked good but there is always room for improvement. On my personal bucket list of improvements that I hoped would come to KI was new fountains with choreographed shows. I thought that at the end of the day the fountains could also be choreographed with the fireworks. Very excited for this!

2020 will certainly be an exciting year for the Sea World / Busch parks. Every park is getting a new major coaster, Busch Gardens Tampa is getting RMC Gwazi, Busch Gardens Williamsburg is getting a new Intamin launch coaster, Sea World Orlando what looks to be a Wave Breaker coaster, Sea World San Antonio a GCI and now a B&M Dive for Sea World San Diego. Exciting year but I just hope they are not over extending themselves in the same way Six Flags did in the early 2000s.

The original flying dutchman, Stealth at Great America was originally intended to leave the station in the sitting position and recline on the lift as well. I don't think it ever worked either.
https://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com/news/archives/june99/stories/062299_04.shtml

I was never a fan of the placement of Firehawk at KI. It is kinda hidden behind the FOF building. A ride that that needs to be on display where everyone can see what makes it unique. Also while standing in the queue the area just seems dead. FOF is inside and adds no kinetic to the area and Firehawk dispatches so slowly it has the same effect. You just feel detached from the rest of the park back there.
When i rode it as X-Flight at Geauga Lake it was front and center. I could be seen from the parking lot and also very well from the area of the park it was placed.

For the most part that is true. The only difference as I was told it is that it was going to be placed on the old King Cobra site before Delirium came along. One way that you can tell Firehawk was not originally designed for the spot it is in now is the height of some of the concrete footers. They needed to be built up because the supports are not long enough for the current placement of the ride.
The development of what would become X-Flight and Batwing was far enough along before Paramount cancelled them that the ride was in the manufacturing process and promotional materials including souvenirs were being produced. The ride that was coming to Kings Island was also going to be called Stealth.
I thought the sister coaster was going to Kings Dominion though not Carowinds.

The idea that Cedar Point is getting all the great coasters and Kings Island is not is just insane. Since Cedar Fair has purchased KI (2006) we have gotten 4 major coasters: Firehawk, Diamondback, Banshee, and Mystic Timbers. Cedar Point has also installed 4 coasters in the same time period. Canada's Wonderland has installed 3, Carowinds has installed 2, Kings Dominion has installed 3. Some of the smaller parks like Dorney and Michagan's Adventure receive little to nothing from year to year. We are hardly being neglected.
Also Diamondback, Banshee and MT are considered some of the best of their type of ride and are all ranked highly in enthusiast polls such as the Coasterbuzz 100.
From time to time "off years" are required for general park improvements such as restaurants, and other upgrades. For 2017 Cedar Point added some water slides and re branded their water park.
It is important to have a well rounded park that has stuff for everyone to do. Not just roller coasters. Our time will come again. Just most likely not for 2019.